Measles Vaccine

The Bush administration wants to make the measles vaccination mandatory for the children of welfare recipients. A court in Philadelphia ordered four children to undergo the measles vaccination-against the wishes and religious beliefs of their parents. According to a Chicago Tribune article (March 25) Philadelphia's deputy health commissioner stated that it is a "tragedy" that anyone should die from measles because it is "totally preventable disease." The real tragedy is how little the medical community really...

(Repeats to add story label used by some customers) RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Brazils top biomedical research and development center announced plans on Monday to produce a combined measles and rubella vaccine for developing countries, mainly in Africa. The first Brazilian vaccine developed specifically for export will be made by Bio-Manguinhos, a unit of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in partnership with the Bill & Melinda...

Effective in September, the Illinois Department of Public Health will require that all school-age children provide proof of receiving a second dose of measles vaccine. The Cook County Department of Public Health offers the immunizations free to county residents at several clinics.

http://www.kidsdr.com In April, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 222 measles cases in the United States during 2011. That's a 15-year high and more than triple the number of measles cases typically reported in the United States. Fortunately, there were no deaths reported from the measles, although about half of those who developed the measles required hospitalization. The majority of the cases of measles seen in this country may be the result of foreign travel.

Illinois Department of Public Health officials have credited more stringent immunization requirements for school students for a 98 percent reduction in the number of reported cases of measles in the state last year. Dr. John Lumpkin, the state's public health director, said Friday a total of 27 measles cases were reported in 1991, compared with 1,152 cases in 1990 and 3,213 cases in 1989. About $11 million has been appropriated to the agency during the last three years for the...

Donna Shalala's letter ("Vaccination time," Voice, April 21) failed to alert parents to the important factor of reporting childhood allergies or asthmatic conditions to their physician or care-giver prior to receiving an immunization, so as to avoid unwanted serious side effects or adverse reactions. It is the responsibility of parents to fully inform their physicians of any family history of asthma if a weakened condition exists that may further weaken a child's immune system.

In February 2011, a year-old boy was taken to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston with a high fever and a rash covering his body. It wasn't until a full day had passed that he was correctly diagnosed with the measles - and that was after being eyeballed by an older doctor, one of only a few at the hospital who had ever seen a case of the disease, said Carol Baker, a professor of pediatrics, molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College...

The city's first measles case in two years has been diagnosed in a Loop office worker, and another is suspected in a Bradley University student from Chicago. The disease was confirmed Feb. 16 in a 29-year-old North Side woman, according to Chicago Deptartment of Health spokeswoman Shirley Haas. The Bradley student who may have the disease developed a rash when she came home from school. Bradley, in Peoria, is in the midst of a measles outbreak, with 32 students affected. Health...

As the influenza season heads in, Carol Baker, who chairs the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases' Childhood Influenza Immunization Coalition, answers some common questions about the flu vaccine. Baker is a professor of pediatrics, molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Q. What is the flu vaccine and who should receive it? A. The influenza vaccine protects against three different strains of the virus that are determined each year by...

Dear Dr. Johnson: Why do we keep hearing about measles outbreaks when there has been such a good vaccine available for all these years? When individuals come down with measles, it is usually either because they have not been vaccinated--as in the case of many of the youngsters affected in the recent outbreak in New Jersey--or they received a vaccine in the early days of measles vaccination that was not effective. In 1963, both live virus and killed virus (less effective) vaccines...

Love equality There has been so much talk lately about gay marriage and issues surrounding it. It's surprising to me how Americans can be split on issues of equality. If two people of the same sex love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together, why not support their decision? If it's an issue of religion, you don't need to agree with it, but give them your support and show that we are all equal. I believe that once we can all agree that we are all equal and show love to each other,...

Far from the mild childhood disease many people remember, the measles resurging today is producing an unusually high number of deaths and illnesses serious enough to warrant a hospital stay. Doctors say it is probably not the virus that has changed but who gets the disease, and they add that the vaccine now protecting adults may paradoxically leave their infants more vulnerable. As a result, a number of local health authorities have started to recommend an extra shot for infants.

Health threats Thank you for publishing the data of immunization rates by school ("Vaccine rates raise risk of outbreaks; More schools fall below state's recommended protection level," Page 1, June 19). Having come so close to eradicating measles a few years ago, it is disappointing to see that many children are now at risk due to the selfish response of a few to false reports of adverse reactions to vaccines. It is the innocent who suffer. As a pediatrician I applaud your reporters for this...

By Former President Jimmy Carter; excerpted from his address at the Carter-Menil human rights awards ceremony earlier this month in Atlanta | December 27, 1988

A civilized society is judged by how it treats its weakest members. It is therefore not inappropriate to measure countries and cultures by the adequacy of their response to illness, medical care, homelessness and malnutrition, especially among the helpless, the young and the old. . . . It is time to look at the withholding of freedom by acts of avoidable omission. For example: Although polio vaccine has been in common use for 30 years, several thousand children will this week become...

A case of measles in a school-age child in DuPage County this month prompted the state's top public health official to warn Friday that all children and adults should be vaccinated against the potentially dangerous disease if they're not already immune to it. Measles is infectious and should be suspected in any person with a fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red, runny eyes, according to a statement released Friday by the Illinois Department of...

Q. I had heard that measles was a thing of the past, yet schools still require that a child be vaccinated. Does that mean that measles is still around? How severe is the disease? I don't think I have ever seen it in the children my kids play with. A. It was thought that medical science had this once common childhood disease whipped back in the 1980s. In 1983 only 1,497 cases were reported, the lowest ever, but the number soared to more than 17,000 in 1989. This resurgence...

It's never been easy for parents to have "the talk" with their children when it's time to disturb innocence with a news flash about sex. But that talk just got a little trickier and more urgent with the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a vaccine to prevent HPV, or human papillomavirus, the bug that causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer. The ramifications of such an inoculation are huge: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year more than 6 million...

A case of measles in a school-age child in DuPage County this month prompted the state's top public health official to warn Friday that all children and adults should be vaccinated against the potentially dangerous disease if they're not already immune to it. Measles is infectious and should be suspected in any person with a fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red, runny eyes, according to a statement released Friday by the Illinois Department of...

Faced with the largest outbreak of measles in the country this year, Alaska officials are considering a second vaccination for thousands of school-age children across the state. The order, which could come as early as Friday, would affect up to 80,000 students. "Initially we focused on Anchorage. We feel the need now to expand this second dose measles immunization throughout the state," said Dr. Peter Nakamura, director of the state Division of Public Health. ...